transportation

When I first saw the title of the Logitech Transporter, I immediately thought, wished, hoped it would be a device that let me travel through time. No.

The Logitech Transporter allows you to easily and seamlessly transmit audio from a PC, portable music player or the internet over a wireless network to speakers you connect to it. Even better, it works seamlessly with Pandora -- my favorite web audio source.

The Transporter is capable of transmitting just about any kind of audio, but it's tough to say just how well it works given the spotty performance of similar products.… Read more

Google Maps' new Street View feature might be getting all the buzz these days (Hello, kitty) but that's not the only thing that's new with the popular online map application. On Monday, Google announced that Google Maps now has improved information about public transportation in many cities worldwide.

Subway stops, in addition to building outlines and car traffic data, first appeared on Google Maps in February. Now, the subway and train stops provide additional information: which lines are serviced by a particular station, a link to the Web site for the corresponding transportation company, as well as upcoming … Read more

Beijing's subway is a little grimy, the air conditioning is fairly weak, and during rush hours it's like being packed into canned ham.

But it's far superior to the public transportation options in San Francisco and San Jose, the so-called hubs of the tech world.

Unlike in San Francisco, the trains show up on time. Every two to three minutes a new car shows up during rush hours. On a Sunday, you might wait five minutes. It doesn't go everywhere, but the line is being expanded. All the station signs are also in English, and you … Read more

One often-cited alternative to gasoline-powered cars is hydrogen. Editors Michael Kanellos and Brian Cooley took a look at one example of a hydrogen-powered test car, a small Mercedes. To keep Kanellos from endangering himself and said vehicle, they set the top speed on this hydro-chariot at only 85 miles per hour. Take a look.

We didn't know that there enough of these to create competition, but the "SolarShuttle" claims to be the "UK's largest and most advanced solar boat," according to Gizmag. Plying the waters of the "ecologically fragile" Serpentine Lake at Hyde Park in London, the boat reportedly runs silently and without pollution while ferrying up to 42 passengers. It even stores more than enough power to operate at night, sending surplus solar energy back to national utility plants. That's especially comforting because it means the boat won't get stranded while rented out … Read more

A "cultural engineering" group in France, called the HeHe Association, has come up with a transportation concept that's a whole lot cooler than Segways: a "personal rail service" that puts small single-person vehicles onto abandoned light rail and tram tracks.

It's definitely conceptual, and likely will never see actual implementation, as it would hit plenty of roadblocks (ha ha). It doesn't look like they've made any concrete outline for how they'd be powered, though the creators have stressed on their Web site that it would be eco-friendly. There are also logistical … Read more

Like so many people, we seem to have a Segway fixation. And, as with so many people, it makes absolutely no sense. Then again, abormal fixations rarely do.

In an effort to broaden our horizons, this item is not about a Segway. It's about a Segway competitor, thank you very much. Gizmowatch says Toshiba has entered the personal transport market with a fuel cell-powered scooter.

Details are scant to none, but we do know that this potential Segway rival is a sociable little critter: It sports LED lights that are apparently designed to communicate with other Toshiba transporters for … Read more